


Another Man

by arcanesupernova



Series: Always Have Been, Always Will Be - A Series of One-Shots [11]
Category: The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals - Team StarKid
Genre: Angst, F/M, affair, implied sex, please someone teach me to tag
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-27
Updated: 2020-05-27
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:26:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24403540
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arcanesupernova/pseuds/arcanesupernova
Summary: Ted and Charlotte fight, sending Charlotte to find comfort in another lonely Hatchetfield man's arms.
Relationships: Charlotte/Gary Goldstein, Charlotte/Ted (The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals)
Series: Always Have Been, Always Will Be - A Series of One-Shots [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2099445
Comments: 4
Kudos: 21





	Another Man

**Author's Note:**

  * For [wifibitz](https://archiveofourown.org/users/wifibitz/gifts).



> WiFi said Chary rights with CharTed endgame so here we go.

“Goddammit Charlotte, just leave, alright?” Ted snapped, “You refuse to be happy and expect me to pick up the pieces every goddamn time.”

“When did I start owing you  _ anything _ ?” Charlotte hissed, “You don’t mean anything to me, Ted. Get that through your thick skull.”

She didn’t mean it, but her words had the intended effect. Ted didn’t say another word but pointed at the door. She was more than happy to comply but the sound of sniffling coming from the room behind her left her mired in her own guilt. Locking Ted’s door behind her, she pulled out her phone and called an old friend, someone who didn’t ask her for anything more once they were finished. Gary Goldstein.

“Hey, Gary,” she said into the phone, a little too cheerfully, “I was wondering if you were busy tonight?”

“Oh, hey Charlotte,” he greeted her, “I’ve got some paperwork to finish up, but if you wanted to stop by, I can squeeze you in.”

“Thank Gar.” 

She hung up the phone and headed for the bus stop. She was on his doorstep in fifteen minutes, knocking quickly as she kept her eyes out for anyone who could recognize her. Gary lived in a nicer apartment than Ted’s but it lacked that familiarity that she had developed with Ted’s. Still, it also lacked the painful memories of the times she let herself get too close to Ted, when she’d let him get too close and let him fall for her. Gary’s place had no expectations of her. She could get off and leave, no questions, no concern for her home life.

And that’s just what she did. She and Gary made quick work of their clothes and an hour later, she was lighting a cigarette as he cleaned himself up.

“I was surprised to hear from you, Char,” Gary noted, pulling his pants back on. “I thought you were limiting your affairs to that guy from your work, Tim?”

“Ted,” Charlotte corrected him, “And no, I just-”

“He was doing it for you, I get it,” Gary told her with a smile. “So what brought you here tonight? Did you and Ted have a fight or something?” He said it with a laugh but was horrified to see the tears start to trickle down her face. 

“Oh, Gary, I don’t know what he wants from me,” Charlotte cried, dabbing her eyes with the bedsheet. “Well, no, I know exactly what he wants from me but I can’t give it to him.”

“What is it, Charlotte? Is he hurting you? I could have a lawsuit drawn up like that if you needed it,” he said, with a snap.

“No, no, of course not. Teddy would never,” Charlotte assured him with a watery chuckle. “Ted let himself-” she swallowed, trying to prepare herself to actually say the words out loud “-fall in love with me. A-And now he wants me to leave Sam for him. Like it’s my fault he couldn’t keep it with no strings attached. Like I owe him that somehow.”

“Charlotte, I don’t think he thinks that at all,” Gary reasoned with her. “It sounds like he just wants you to be happy, preferably with him I assume but he cares about you.”

“I don’t want people to care about me,” she cried out, “I just want to get my fill and go home to my husband. I love Sam, Gary. You understand, you’ve never asked me for more.”

“Well, Charlotte, not to be rude but I have my hands full with Linda,” he chuckled. “I like seeing you, but I don't think I could juggle both of you. She’s a little… controlling.”

“Be serious, Gary,” Charlotte chastised him, putting her cigarette out forcefully. “What I mean is- You can just let me leave here and not constantly be worried about my wellbeing and happiness.”

“Well that’s not entirely true, Charlotte,” he told her, carefully. “I’m your friend, I know you’re not happy with your home life and that’s why you come here. Let me ask you something,” Gary asked, a serious look crossing over his face. “How do you feel about Ted?”

“He drives me crazy!” she exclaimed, confused how she wasn’t making that clear enough.

“Okay, I know that, but past that. How would you feel if you never saw Ted again?”

Charlotte initially thought of how much easier her life would be without Ted in it. No one to constantly harass her about her marriage, no one telling her how she deserved better. The more she thought about it, the worse the idea made her feel. No Ted also meant no one to remember her Beanie’s order, no one to have cozy nights in when Sam decided seeing his other girlfriend was more important than her.

“I mean, I suppose it wouldn’t feel great,” she admitted finally. 

“Would you say you’ve grown fond of Ted?” he asked gently.

“There’s a reason it’s been months since I’ve seen you,” she chuckled before letting out a sigh. “When we’re not talking about my stupid marriage or Sam in general, being with Ted is great but I can’t leave Sam. No matter how happy Ted makes me, Sam is my husband. I took vows.”

“You know it’s not the 1950’s anymore, right Charlotte?” Gary reminded her. “Divorces are a great solution for an unhappy woman.”

“I love Sam.”

“I think you love the idea of Sam,” Gary rebutted.

“Ted is the office slut. He’ll sleep with anyone that walks in the door.”

“When was the last time he did something like that?”

Charlotte was quiet for a moment, trying to remember the last time Ted flirted with anyone other than her at the office. “You’re quite the lawyer, Mr. Goldstein.”

“Hatchetfield’s finest.”

Silence fell between them as they finished getting dressed. Charlotte’s mind was a thousand miles away, partially tired from her extracurricular activities and partially wishing she had just stayed at Ted’s so she wouldn’t have to go back out into the cold. 

“I’m not going to tell you what to do, Charlotte. You’ve made it clear you’re not the biggest fan of that but I think you should give Ted a little bit more credit. Just from what you’ve told me, it sounds like he really cares about you. It also sounds like you won’t give yourself something good for once.”

Charlotte sighed and picked up her phone to check the time. She found a message from Ted, timestamped an hour earlier. “ **Charlotte, please come back. Let’s talk, alright?** ”

“I’ve gotta go, Gary.” She left a kiss on his cheek before heading for the door. “Thank you for listening.”

“Not a problem,” Gary told her with a smile, “If you need any representation, say for any upcoming divorces, you have my number.”

Charlotte gave him a soft smile and left, heading back to the bus stop. As Ted’s stop approached, she had a choice to make, get off now and try to make up with him or just be done with it all. The doors opened to allow people off and Charlotte was telling herself to stay in the seat, that she didn’t need nor want to see Ted but as the driver shut the door, her stomach plummeted.

“W-Wait, driver! I need to get off here,” she exclaimed, pushing herself out of the seat and stumbling to the front of the bus. The driver rolled her eyes but opened the door, leaving Charlotte behind to stare up at Ted’s apartment building as the bus sped off. Would he even be awake? Would he even want to see her after she’d just been with another man?

Her feet carried her to the door, where she held her hand up, hesitating to knock. With a sigh, she let herself rap on the door twice, ready to turn and flee when he didn’t answer. A light flipped on and the door swung open to reveal a red-eyed Ted still wearing the same work clothes he had on when she left.

“What are you doing here, Charlotte?” he asked, clearing his throat.

“T-Ted, I’m sorry,” she whimpered, shrinking into herself. “I didn’t mean what I said.”

“I’m sure you didn’t,” he laughed, all humor absent from his face.

“I wanted to see you. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking-”

“Are you going to leave Sam?” he cut in, ready to cut the conversation short.

“Ted, I-”

“No, Charlotte, I can’t keep doing this with you.”

“Let me finish, Ted,” she demanded, “I talked to an old friend, Gary. He gave me a lot to think about when it comes to our relationship.”

“Oh, did he fuck some sense into you?” Ted sneered, leaning against the doorframe. The silhouette of his body was mesmerizing, but she averted her eyes to stay on track.

“I wanna give us a chance, Ted,” she told him earnestly, biting her lip as her eyes trailed back to his hips. “Could you just- stand like a normal person and not like a goddamn calendar model?”

“Oh, see something you like?”

“You’re a bastard, Ted.” Despite her harsh words, she wore a smile. He conceded with a sigh, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Always have been, always will be.”

“And you know that’s why I can’t resist you.”

She pushed her lips to his, letting herself melt into him as he returned the kiss. He picked her up and kicked the door shut with his foot, carrying her back to his room where he rested her down on the bed.

“For obvious reasons, I’m not going to be fucking you tonight,” he told her in a breathy voice, before considering for a moment and remanding his statement, “Not unless you go take a shower or something.”

“Oh, fine,” she huffed. Despite his declaration, he didn’t let her go and she was grateful for the feeling of his body up against her.

“Do you mean it?” he asked after a long silence, pulling away from her slightly. “Are you going to leave Sam?”

“Oh, Teddy,” she sighed, “I want to but there’s so much to think about. The house, the cats- why can’t we just keep doing this?”

“I want you, Charlotte, all of you,” Ted told her, finally letting her go and sitting up on the bed. The absence of his warmth was glaring and she longed for him to come back.

“Alright, fine, but are you going to stick around through the entire process? You’re not going to just leave me when you finally get what you want and find out it’s not as great as you thought it’d be?”

“Charlotte,” Ted said, exasperated, “that’s not going to happen, but even if it did, how is staying with a man who doesn’t love you any better?”

Charlotte didn’t know what to say and Ted didn’t press the matter any further. When she finally did speak, it startled Ted.

“I’ll call Gary on Monday then.”


End file.
